DOST KHAN
Jammu: In democracy, there is no alternative to peoples’ government but when circumstances go haywire and turn as complex as in Jammu and Kashmir after dangerously fractured mandate in recent Assembly elections, imposition of the Governor’s Rule is only recourse and, in fact, a welcome and soothing breather. In a way, it is a blessing in disguise for the people who feel jittered due to mis-governance.
Let this brief spell turn out as a trend setter for the ‘inept and corrupt dispensations’.
The term ‘inept and corrupt’ may appear too harsh and a scathing description but the way the ‘peoples’ governments have worked recklessly in the recent past, there can’t be any other portrayal for the dispensations the State has witnessed. Public perceptions apart, the major political players during these elections, who have partnered the governments since 2002, are on record having accused each other of breaking the records of corruption and nepotism. They can’t be disbelieved. By virtue of holding responsible positions in the government, they are privy to the record card of each other and hence the allegations are supposed to be based on what they have observed while governing this unfortunate state. But birds of same feather do not get engaged against each other. Hence, time for the Governor to make a difference.
Governor N. N Vohra is an accomplished public servant with a chequered career spreading decades together. Very few may know in a State like Jammu and Kashmir that he has been accredited as one of the top eight powerful bureaucrats of India. Given his experience and administrative acumen it should not be difficult for him to do just a little bit to stem out the rot that has been plaguing the administration for over a decade particularly. The rot is so much that even five years won’t be enough to sweep it. He has just a few days, or a few weeks or a couple of months at his command to dispense, what he describes, good-governance. It has to be inclusive and effective, as he himself exhorted to the secretaries during his maiden interaction after taking over the reins of the State administration. This is not going to happen unless he himself takes a bold initiative. Unlike in 2008, he has an added advantage this time with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India, who has not encouraged power centres to gain roots which generally spread beyond the territorial boundaries of New Delhi and influence state governments.
Having said that the Governor has a very little time at his disposal, he should concentrate on issues, which may appear to be trivial in nature but have immense ramifications. Take the example of the State Public Service Commission. This is not only headless but does not have even a single member due to tug-of-war between the coalition partners for months together to get their blue-eyed boys placed in an institution responsible for shaping the career of thousands of youth across the State. The Governor is aware how a panel was formulated and forwarded to him for assent just to have favourites rehabilitated post retirement. Many of the recommendees had the sole qualification of being hand-in-glove with their political bosses in different capacities. Who doesn’t know that there is always a debt to return the favour? Therefore, an opportunity has been bestowed upon the Governor by the circumstances to have all the vacancies filled from amongst the serving bureaucrats who have no less than ten years of service at their command. They won’t be only accountable to their acts but also punishable for wrong-doings. Let this precedent be created for the sake of thousands of young people who expect fairness and better deal from the recruiting agencies. Let the Governor also pre-empt the attempts of the successive government to convert the PSC as a Rehabilitation Centre for those who don’t want to go home after calling it a day in their service career. There is absolutely nothing wrong in picking up superannuated officials for various assignments but talent should be the guiding principle and not the appeasement, which has been core of the successive governments. The Governor can, with a single stroke of pen, undo the wrongs committed by the outgoing government while flouting the norms of ban imposed on reappointments. There is yet another matter of immense public importance which relates to sanction of prosecutions against the corrupt. There should be no impediment for the Governor to have these expedited in a minimum possible time so that corrupt face heat instead of coziness of the offices they are manning currently. The Governor has lot many things to do before the new government chips in. He is himself aware of the mess that has accumulated over the years. He will surely get a right feedback by well-meaning people, if steps are taken in right direction. He can do it provided he keeps guard against the bureaucrats who are tuned to the culture of sycophancy during so-called popular dispensations.